6 years...

A few weeks ago J and I celebrated six years of marriage. I could have sworn it was 7, but I looked at the calendar and its only 6. Weird. We aren't celebratory people so we typically don't do much for holidays or events but I really wanted to go to the Josh Groban concert and I needed a way to justify the cost...

Anniversary.

It was a great concert. We had floor seats and we were about 40 (ish) yards from the stage but we were seriously within 10 feet of him when he was singing on his mini-middle of the floor-just him alone stage thing. We saw the sweat on his face. He is a great performer. Knowing we would be some of the younger kiddos there and the genre of music doesn't really induce screaming/jumping/mosh pit fun we weren't sure what to expect but he did a great job. It was fun and we really enjoyed our time out.

All in all six years was pretty darn good. Here's to another six or so. :)

Yup.

She is walking...officially. My baby MJ girl is full on walking. She still crawls faster, but she thinks she is all that when she is cruisin' around all upright and stuff. The problem with kids growing up is that they actually do it.

In other EXTREMELY exciting news...TJ was recently sick with a cold and for the FIRST TIME IN HIS LIFE he didn't wake me up every hour or require me to sleep on the floor next to him. He took some meds before bed and took care of himself the rest of the time. This kind of growing up is not only acceptable, but encouraged.

So, there's this guy...

So, this guy...

He is great to have around the house...

He is on-time...

He is good with the kids...

He listens to me...

He is dependable...

He works hard...

He really makes me feel that making ME happy is what is most important to him...

I sleep better at night knowing he is watching out for me...

I don't think he is afraid of ANYTHING...

(...And other than J and T, he just might be the only guy I cant live without...)

Enter:Justin, bug guy.

I was talking with J the other night about the show Survivor. We were talking about what the contestants do for a shot at a million dollars. I mean, its a lot of money. The things I could do with a million dollars! Heck, the things I could do with 125 dollars! (which happens to be the amount of money KW was paid to eat a beetle the size of my little finger). But to be absolutely honest...I couldn't do it. Its not in the Bible or anything but I'm pretty sure after Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden, Eve looked at Adam and said " You have GOT to be kidding me...Idon't remember a mention of bugs in this plan..."

I promised myself these: would not be a part of my life anymore. Once in Hawaii, one of my roommates grabbed a box of cereal and poured herself a nice big bowl of Lucky Charms and Roaches. Oh, you haven't heard of it? Yeah, its full of sugar and protein. Nothing like watching your cereal look back at you before making a clean getaway. As if that wasn't enough for my low bug tolerance later that night as I was laying in bed (in 86 degree weather, no AC in my house, and a sheet stuffed tightly around my body), I heard that disgusting noise of little legs crawling along the walls and the floor. I reach over and clicked on the lamp and right above me on the wall was a cockroach a good 4-5 inches long just waiting to attack me in my most vulnerable state. We made eye-contact, he smirked at me, I picked up a shoe, he ran. As he ran away I'm certain I heard him saying "I'll be back." Didn't sleep much the rest of that night-or that year. I began sleeping flat on my back with a shoe under my arm and a flashlight (left on) shining on the wall above my head. I assumed that since I rarely saw cockroaches during the day that they must be scared of the light. I danno..made sense in my head. I also heard that those particular bugs get eaten by gecko's. I chose the lesser of 2 evils and I recruited a couple of geckos to put in my room.

When we bought our house last year I told J that he had to find me a good quality bug guy. He asked around at work and found a co-worker who shares my animosity for such creatures and she told us about the company she used. She said "I called a bunch of people in the phone book and BULWARK was the only one who GUARANTEED against scorpions." (Um...Come again? Scorpions...add that one to the list.) I verified that with a scorpion guarantee also comes death to cockroaches, crickets, beetles, ants, etc.

Its not just the interior. I mean, its awesome that I can get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night without a having to check the toilet seat first. Its wicked cool that I can leave dishes in my kitchen sink and there are NO bugs feasting on them when I wake up in the morning. Its flippin extraordinary that I can check on my kids and not find some nasty specimen CRAWLING ON MY KIDS FOREHEAD while he is sleeping (true story). But do you know how cool it is that as I walk down the street at night my house is the ONLY one that doesn't have crickets and cockroaches out on the prowl?!?

Before we put our sod in, we noticed we had ants all over the pre-determined sod area. Not just a few, but like a zillion and 3/4 of a billion. Justin noticed it and said "Hey, I saw you have ants back there, why don't I come back next week and bring my super awesome, powerful, die ants die spray and take a shot at it." Um...OKAY. He did...FOUR TIMES till those buggers were ERADICATED! Gone-done for-outa here. By the way, did I mention that EVERY FOLLOW-UP was FREE! I'm talking no charge, keep your pennies in your pocket, on the house, FREE.

Have I mentioned that in the (almost) year we have lived her I have only seen 2 spiders in my house, and 2 (dead) cockroaches in my garage. Boo to the YEAH.

So, call this a testimonial, an advertisement, a shout-out, or just plain old LOVE. But Justin, You had me at hello...You had me at hello.

For all you Vegas (and AZ, UT, GA, TX) area readers, if you are interested (and I know you are) check out:

http://www.bulwarkpestcontrol.com/lasvegaspestcontrol.php?gclid=CLnstaCPrKkCFQEQbAod_xGPKA

(Please leave a comment if you think this post deserves to WIN 1 year of free Bulwark Service and if you think that Justin deserves a raise... :) )

Long awaited pix of MJ

These were all taken within the past two weeks. Yes, she does look just like her Daddy and her brother. I recently had a friend say "So, what part of you did your kids get..."

Um....still waiting on that.

Here is my cute 1 year old!

My baby is One!

So much has happened in a year. We can't believe how fast it has gone, how difficult some of it has been, and how incredibly rewarding it has been as well! We have been incredibly blessed in the past year and it starts with the birth of "sissy-boo." As many may know she was our miracle. She continues to bless our lives every single day. My favorite thing to do is to leave her and T alone and watch them as the play, giggle, chase each other, and love on each other. The bond they have is unbelievable, undeniable, and unbreakable! They are best friends, but I am a close second.

MJ is a momma's girl. I cant do much without her hanging on my legs. If daddy is home and isn't giving her constant attention she will find me and hang on my legs whining till I pick her up. I try and tell myself to enjoy it? I guess its nice to know that there is at least 1 little person out there who prefers me to anyone else...

True to form, she wakes up at night quite often just like her brother. She is starting to sleep pretty consistently and some nights I'm only up with her once. (this is amazing people). J is great to help out but more often than not it's me who "gets" to put her back to sleep. Sometimes it's walking around the house talking to her, rocking her, or just singing to her. For whatever reason, our kids don't like sleep all that much and that wears on me big time. My children have definitely helped me develop a little bit more patience. Seeing my little baby girl when she is most vulnerable and needy I cant help but be grateful that I have her here, even if it is 3 in the morning!

We love this baby so much. She is *one* of the greatest things that has ever happened to us. She is calm, laid back, happy, and loving. She is a huge baby just like her brother. Last time I weighed her she was a whopping 26 pounds. Both she and her brother are dense humans. No rolls, not to much baby fat, but downright dense.

She loves water. I mean LOVES water. Drink it, play in it, get thrown in it, get it thrown on her, etc. She is a water baby! She even loves gasping for air after swallowing to much. The girl is crazy. She has learned how to tip herself forward while she is in her infant tube so she can dunk herself head first. Total drowning hazard.

She has bright blue eyes, crazy fluffy hair, a killer smile, and she loves to dance. If music is on, she just grooves...

She loves to wave and blow kisses. She gets shy sometimes and buries her head into my shoulder until she feels comfortable. She gets scared of big things very easily. Dogs, fish (yep), large weighted toys that bounce back when you hit them (found that out today). She wants to be held whenever she is nervous and she makes a very nervous grunting "ooohh-ing" noise.

MJ we love you so much. Thank you for being something light when its dark, something beautiful and calm in an ugly and scary time, and for being something extraordinary in an ordinary world...

I will post pictures sometime...yeah, Im not very good at that but Im really going to try.

So, there's this guy...

So, this guy...

He is great to have around the house...

He is on-time...

He is good with the kids...

He listens to me...

He is dependable...

He works hard...

He really makes me feel that making ME happy is what is most important to him...

I sleep better at night knowing he is watching out for me...

I don't think he is afraid of ANYTHING...

(...And other than J and T, he just might be the only guy I cant live without...)

Enter:Justin, bug guy.

I was talking with J the other night about the show Survivor. We were talking about what the contestants do for a shot at a million dollars. I mean, its a lot of money. The things I could do with a million dollars! Heck, the things I could do with 125 dollars! (which happens to be the amount of money KW was paid to eat a beetle the size of my little finger). But to be absolutely honest...I couldn't do it. Its not in the Bible or anything but I'm pretty sure after Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden, Eve looked at Adam and said " You have GOT to be kidding me...I don't remember a mention of bugs in this plan..."

I promised myself these: would not be a part of my life anymore. Once in Hawaii, one of my roommates grabbed a box of cereal and poured herself a nice big bowl of Lucky Charms and Roaches. Oh, you haven't heard of it? Yeah, its full of sugar and protein. Nothing like watching your cereal look back at you before making a clean getaway. As if that wasn't enough for my low bug tolerance later that night as I was laying in bed (in 86 degree weather, no AC in my house, and a sheet stuffed tightly around my body), I heard that disgusting noise of little legs crawling along the walls and the floor. I reach over and clicked on the lamp and right above me on the wall was a cockroach a good 4-5 inches long just waiting to attack me in my most vulnerable state. We made eye-contact, he smirked at me, I picked up a shoe, he ran. As he ran away I'm certain I heard him saying "I'll be back." Didn't sleep much the rest of that night-or that year. I began sleeping flat on my back with a shoe under my arm and a flashlight (left on) shining on the wall above my head. I assumed that since I rarely saw cockroaches during the day that they must be scared of the light. I danno..made sense in my head. I also heard that those particular bugs get eaten by gecko's. I chose the lesser of 2 evils and I recruited a couple of geckos to put in my room.

When we bought our house last year I told J that he had to find me a good quality bug guy. He asked around at work and found a co-worker who shares my animosity for such creatures and she told us about the company she used. She said "I called a bunch of people in the phone book and BULWARK was the only one who GUARANTEED against scorpions." (Um...Come again? Scorpions...add that one to the list.) I verified that with a scorpion guarantee also comes death to cockroaches, crickets, beetles, ants, etc.

Its not just the interior. I mean, its awesome that I can get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night without a having to check the toilet seat first. Its wicked cool that I can leave dishes in my kitchen sink and there are NO bugs feasting on them when I wake up in the morning. Its flippin extraordinary that I can check on my kids and not find some nasty specimen CRAWLING ON MY KIDS FOREHEAD while he is sleeping (true story). But do you know how cool it is that as I walk down the street at night my house is the ONLY one that doesn't have crickets and cockroaches out on the prowl?!?

Before we put our sod in, we noticed we had ants all over the pre-determined sod area. Not just a few, but like a zillion and 3/4 of a billion. Justin noticed it and said "Hey, I saw you have ants back there, why don't I come back next week and bring my super awesome, powerful, die ants die spray and take a shot at it." Um...OKAY. He did...FOUR TIMES till those buggers were ERADICATED! Gone-done for-outa here. By the way, did I mention that EVERY FOLLOW-UP was FREE! I'm talking no charge, keep your pennies in your pocket, on the house, FREE.

Have I mentioned that in the (almost) year we have lived her I have only seen 2 spiders in my house, and 2 (dead) cockroaches in my garage. Boo to the YEAH.

So, call this a testimonial, an advertisement, a shout-out, or just plain old LOVE. But Justin, You had me at hello...You had me at hello.

For all you Vegas (and AZ, UT, GA, TX) area readers, if you are interested (and I know you are) check out:

http://www.bulwarkpestcontrol.com/lasvegaspestcontrol.php?gclid=CLnstaCPrKkCFQEQbAod_xGPKA

(Please leave a comment if you think this post deserves to WIN 1 year of free Bulwark Service and if you think that Justin deserves a raise... :) )

A few more pix of la Casa

Ahhh...My favorite room. My kitchen. It is a working kitchen so it is rarely clear of dishes and food. It looks okay in the pix. :)

1 more of the kitchen.

Downstairs bathroom/Guest bathroom. It isnt quite as blue as it looks. Its more of a "sea breeze" blue (thats what the can said).

The entry way from the landing. It looks a little weird. I love the tile-its one of my favorite features.

Entry way to stairs from front door. Living and dining are to the left and family room is through the large archway at the right of the stairs.

Living room area. I know the pictures aren't centered on the sofa. I am still playing with furniture placement. If only I had a piano then I would know where to put everything.

Dining area. We use this everyday. We always eat out meals as a family at the dining table.

Still to come is the master bed/bath, family room, and guest room. I will keep you on edge till the next post.

My 4th Anniversary.

Today was my 4th anniversary of becoming a mother. My sweet little TJ turned 4 and it was a big day for me. This was the first birthday he had that he wasn't my baby. This was the first time we had a big "all for TJ" party. It was the first birthday in a new house and a new place, and his first birthday without cousins and grandparents. :(

It was a good day though. He woke up happy, he was thrilled the whole day and he couldn't have been happier about us falling all over him. This afternoon he looked at his daddy and said "I sure do like it when its my birthday."

I love this little guy so much. He has changed my life. Because if him, I got something that I can never lose or have taken away from me. He made me a mom. 4 years ago he stole my heart (and every night of sleep since then).

Happy Birthday TJ! I love you so much. You are the funniest, sweetest, smartest and most handsome 4 year old I know!

The new digs

This is just the upstairs landing area. I just really like our wrap around banister and I am going to make that wall with a lot more family pictures.

I am still doing LOTS of work on this room. Its the Hockey and hobby room. Still have lots of hockey stuff to hang up and it needs furniture. We have a twin bed to use as a secondary guest room and we want to put a computer desk in here. For now its where I do all my sewing projects.

T's room (obviously) The blue wall isnt quite as bright as the pictures makes it seem. Still working on his decor as well. (Cant quite figure out what to do on the wall above his bed!)

Kids bathroom and my cute boy. There are frogs everywhere...cant really see them in the pic though.

This is MJ's room. I still have a lot of work to do in terms of decor... I thought about buying a black crib but opted out. Above her bed there are flowers and butterflies and the frames say "MJ" and ladybugs surrounding the frames. And...to draw your attention to the ADORABLE dust ruffle...yeah, I MADE THAT. (quickly becoming my favorite room in the house -other than the kitchen- and the room I am most proud of!)

This is our loft which we call our playroom. :) On the wall above the couch I am going to put lots of pix of my kids playing and on the wall above the hockey net I am going to put a large corkboard to display all of the beautiful artwork that is accumulating on my fridge. :)

So enjoy this post, it could be awhile before you get another one. I still have the whole downstairs to take pix of as well as the master bed/bath. Aren't you excited. If you dont want to wait for pictures you are WELCOME to come and stop in. :)

I need to update

I need to update the blog, and the layout. I just dont know how-I will figure it out somehow. Plus I dont know if I have any cute recent pictures of baby MJ--pictures where she looks like a girl and not a replica of her brother and father. Shes cute, dont get me wrong-she just needs a little more hair or something. This is a big week for me. My good friend is coming to Vegas for a photography conference and she will be taking pictures for me. Pix of my kids, pix of the fam, pix of it all. Not sure this has happened in YEARS. It will be fun to have new updated pix of us-add a little flavor to this drab blog. Im excited to have new pictures. The world deserves to see the beauty that is my children.

Resolution

Lets try not to stress out so much shall we? Done.